“We continue to monitor and adjust our schedule to meet our guests’ needs. Washington has proven to be a very popular route and we’re delighted to resume the service early in time for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

“The launch of three new routes to Hartford, Connecticut, Newark and Los Angeles highlights the demand for travel to North America and we will continue to develop this network within the business.”

Breaking News.ie reports that the “airline will expand Dublin to Washington service for summer 2016 from four flights per week to daily flights adding an extra 10,000 seats. Meanwhile Chicago will also benefit with an extra flight per week making it 12 flights a week from Dublin.”

The Dublin to Washington service has proven very popular since it was first re-introduced in May 2015 and due to the demand, the service has been extended to January 4.

Flights will now begin from March 14 2016 allowing the airline to cash in on the lucrative St. Patrick’s Day travel, with four services per week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

The announcement comes after the three new transatlantic routes from Dublin – Hartford, Connecticut, Los Angeles and Newark, New Jersey bringing the number of direct flights daily to 28. Aer Lingus’ total long haul seat capacity will grow by more than 17% in 2016.